


The Kelvin timeline Kirk has never been to Tarsus Ⅳ

by Desert Runner (yourevenstar)



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Analysis, Character Study, Meta, Tarsus IV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-29 21:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7700320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourevenstar/pseuds/Desert%20Runner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Here are the reasons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Kelvin timeline Kirk has never been to Tarsus Ⅳ

I've read some metas which insist that the Kelvin timeline Kirk has also been to Tarsus Ⅳ. I object to the speculation.

 

1.

  
As we all know, the Kelvin timeline Kirk was born in space. He lost his father and his family’s happy life was screwed up that day. It is crazy, not logical, that sending a child alone to the long distance planet especially when his father died in dangerous space. On what basis can we think that Winona Kirk is yay ruthless enough to abandon his own son in this way?

 

2.

  


In the movie, Kirk stares up at the Enterprise. He seems to imagine about going into space and finally decide to end his life on Earth. In my opinion, Kirk has never been to space until Pike urged him to enter Starfleet.

The tie-in novelization of Star Trek 2009 also supports my opinion. In the novel, there is an argument between Kirk and Spock. Spock says to Kirk, “Given that your experience in space travel is limited to the day of your birth and a modest subsequent travel interval, you lack the experience necessary to make that judgement. You advocate a methodology base on assumption and emotion, not familiarity and knowledge.”

On the day of Kirk’s birth, escape shuttles flew away from the attack on the USS Kelvin. And the USS Kelvin were a full light-year outside the Klingon Neutral Zone at that time. So shuttles needed more days to reach Earth. That journey back to Earth was the only space travel experience Kirk had had until their argument. This was not contradicted or revealed otherwise in the novel.

 

3.

  
“According to the Star Trek app accompanying Star Trek Into Darkness, John Harrison’s bio claimed he was one of nine survivors of a 2246 attack on the (Tarsus) planet, his parents Richard and Sara perishing. It was not made explicitly clear if this “attack” was the same event that happened in the regular timeline.”

Some make a case out of this that the Tarsus IV Massacre also happened in the Kelvin timeline. However, app promo is not canon. Even if we suppose the Tarsus IV Massacre happened, this makes it utmost unlikely that the Kelvin timeline Kirk was on Tarsus IV. If there had been only nine survivors and one of them already had belonged to Starfleet, Section 31 wouldn’t have made Harrison’s bio like that. Who in the name of heaven would make such a poor record to conceal someone’s identity? Section 31, a top secret agency that most Starfleet officers have no idea even exists? They’d rather not make it than do the useless thing.

 

4.

  
Some fans say that Tarsus Ⅳ backstory explains well about Kelvin Kirk’s character. They insist that the Kelvin timeline Kirk made wrong decisions because he was damaged. If so, TOS Kirk who we know for sure suffered the Tarsus Ⅳ Massacre was fine in canon and Kelvin Kirk who has not been canonically alleged to have suffered it was not? Totally nonsense.

On the contrary, if we ever need Tarsus Ⅳ backstory, I would say that Kelvin Kirk made wrong decisions because he never suffered Tarsus Ⅳ Massacre unlike TOS Kirk. If the Kelvin timeline Kirk had suffered the Tarsus Ⅳ Massacre and was so traumatized at people’s dying, he could not have made the decision to invade the Klingon Homeworld. How could he endanger the entire population of the Federation over one man? Christopher Pike was an important man to Kirk, yes, but was Pike more important to Kirk than David Marcus to him? When his own son David was murdered by Klingon in the prime timeline, Kirk had a grudge against Klingon but never did wrong. The Kelvin timeline Kirk didn’t think about other’s lives. He just selfishly made the choice for what was personally important to him at the moment. The most plausible explanation of this is that STID story sucks and they made Kirk out of character. But, if we don’t consider an out-of-universe explanation, the next-best plausible explanation is that Kirk was a hot-blood youth so he was blinded.

Though some sarcasm kicked in, Kelvin Kirk’s mindset and behavior really don’t need Tarsus Ⅳ backstory. One doesn’t need to be a victim of terrible disaster to have regard for people’s lives and try to rescue them. Normal humans just do. Kirk sacrificed himself, but that’s what many Starfleet officers do if necessary. And it was his responsibility that drove the situation at stake and he only tried to retrieve it. So one can even argue that it was not a noble act. It is more plausible to me that his act was out of guilt.

Insisting that Kelvin Kirk’s personality is derived from the Tarsus IV Massacre is no more than predetermining the conclusion that some SLASH fans are itching for drawing: hurt Kirk or angst. It is mere a personal desire, not a reasonable analysis if conclusion precedes assumptions.

 

5.

  
If something didn’t happen in canon, it is simply not canon.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry about my English


End file.
